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Bears finish sweep of UCLA with 8-6 victory
Three homers power Cal past Bruins, probably into postseason
It was a series sweep for Cal as the Bears beat UCLA, 8-6, in front of a season-high crowd of 943 at Jackie Robinson Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
UCLA dropped to 26-23, 6-12 in Pac-10 play, while Cal improved to 30-22, finishing its Pac-10 schedule with a 14-10 record.
The Bears were powered by home runs by Rob Meyer, Conor Jackson and Clint Hoover, and senior David Cash picked up the win with 7 2/3 innings of relief, allowing just two runs.
UCLA’s Josh Karp had a rough return to the mound, as the junior allowed six runs in five innings of work.
Things started out well for the Bruins, as Matt Pearl hit a solo home run in his first at-bat. It was the second straight day that Pearl hit a home run in his first at-bat. Eric Reece started the second inning with another solo home run. The Bruins scored a second run when Preston Griffin doubled, advanced to third on a Josh Canales single, and scored on an RBI single by Pearl.
The Bears got on the board in the third. After Karp walked Conor Jackson, Rob Meyer hit a two-run home run to close the gap to 3-2. The Bears added three more runs in the fourth and another run on a Clint Hoover solo home run in the fifth.
Ben Francisco scored a run in the fourth. After being hit by a pitch, he stole second base, and scored on a John Campanella RBI single. They added another run in the fifth, as Brandon Averill reached first on a throwing error by Cal 3B Jackson. He advanced to second on a Griffin walk, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Canales sacrifice fly. After five innings, the Bruins trailed 6-5 after the fifth inning.
The Bears extended their lead to 8-5 in the sixth, as Jackson hit a two-run home run off of Bruin reliever Kevin Jerkens.
The Bruins scored their final run in the bottom of the sixth, as Baron started the inning with a double, and scored on another Campanella RBI single.
Jerkens held the Bears scoreless in the final three innings of the game, but the Bruins could only manage one hit in the final three frames against Cash.
